09/01/2026
Heather Hardy’s yard in Bridgeton is not just a yard. It’s also a certified monarch waystation through Monarch Watch. That means it has the right plants to support monarch butterflies as they breed and make their long migration south to Mexico.
Hardy said she was out counting monarch caterpillars Wednesday morning and recording video for an upcoming native plant event put on by the Bridgeton Beautification Commission, which she chairs as a volunteer.
There she spotted a monarch butterfly that looked unlike any she had ever seen before — it had white and black scales instead of orange and black.
This is only the third time white monarchs have been found in Missouri since 1908, according to experts at the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Butterfly House.
Read more about the white monarch down below. ⬇️